There's a buzz around honey-brewed Hiver Beer

Honey beer has a long and illustrious history in the UK. As early as 5AD, unhopped honey beer and mead were brewed by the father of the bride for a new couple to drink after their wedding.

“It was drunk during the lunar month as an aphrodisiac, to help the couple conceive their first baby,” says Rhodes. “That’s why it’s called a honeymoon.”

There are a number of other honey beers on the market. Fuller’s organic Honey Dew beer is also made with real honey, as is Wells Waggle Dance. Hiver Beer, which retails for £2.40, has a very different flavour profile, according to Rhodes.

“Rivals either lose most of the flavour during brewing or add it at the end, which gives a sickly sweet flavour,” she says. “We brew with honey as an ingredient not an additive.”

According to Rhodes, who left a job at Meantime to launch Hiver, the craft beer revolution of the past decade has made people more willing to try new and unusual beers. “Meantime started that craze,” she says. “People who never drank beer before are becoming converts.”

The only challenge holding back the business is glass supply. “I want to support British manufacturers, even when that means buying glass that’s more expensive than bringing it in from Germany or Eastern Europe,” she says. “But these companies have treated me badly. One underproduced so I ended up with beer sitting there. It cost thousands of pounds to fix.” Rhodes has been forced to delay her marketing campaign as a result of that setback.

Rhodes is the sole employee at the business, which will donate 10pc of all profits to pollinator charities and urban space development projects.

“I want to put honey beer back on the map,” says Rhodes. “People like the beer, we’re seeing repeat sales, so that dream is in reach.”

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